As we mentioned this morning, SXSW has taken over Austin, TX and the news is already breaking. (It’s trending on Twitter right now.) MadameNoire Business is lucky enough to have a writer on the ground and on the scene — Mary Pryor, aka the Urban Socialista — to report on some of the hot panels. We’ll be posting her coverage from the conference over the coming days.

The Naturally Social panel. Photo: Mary Pryor

The natural hair care movement has grown rapidly within the past ten years.  As African-American hair care products evolve from servicing just one type of hair texture or consumer, there are several opportunities in the marketplace for individuals to find their own ways to educate each other about what is tried and true, catered to a variety of hair types and personalities.

At this year’s South By Southwest Conference, Franchesca Ramsey (YouTube beauty vlogger and comedienne), Myleik Teele (Curlbox), Jamala Johns (Le Coil), Kristen Braswell (Carol’s Daughter), and Patrice Yursik (Afrobella) led a panel called, “Naturally Social” and shared several ways that a dedicated person can jump into this niche, yet profitable space.

How to go natural, the social way:

• Join Tumblr – Tumblr has a large and dedicated audience of users and readers who share and post content focused on beauty, hair, fitness, and fashion.  Post photos and links to some of your favorite styles and products. Try to be mindful of using original content and not stock photography. Share your story and drive authenticity when discussing certain brands and products to your audience.

• Tweet Away – Twitter is a major platform that bloggers are using in order to tell their natural hair triumphs and tribulations. Keep in mind that Twitter growth potential takes time and every exchange online should be viewed as a chance to engage.

• Be Unique – Curlbox’s Teele doesn’t just post pics. The site posts pics of fans showing off their curls and locs. Learn how to develop an overall community for your brand. Creating a community of loyal followers who consistently engage with your content and buy your products will turn into a goldmine.
• Be Authentic – “Being authentic works,” said Teele. The more authentic your voice the more you will be able to be seen as a resource for your target demo. “Reaching out to bloggers that have engagement, trust and influence. Engagement means everything!” Teele added.
• Always Measure – As mentioned by panelist Francesca Ramsey, “If you see a mass grouping of awareness around one product, don’t be scared to question that.” Think to yourself, “Is this an authentic opinion of what you use or a massive campaign spend by an advertiser.”
• Pay Attention to Emerging Tech Platforms – Instagram and Vine are some of the top favorites by many of the panelists. Instagram’s functionality and scale provides exposure to vast audiences. Vine, although still new to the social platform scene, could be utilized as a way to display quick hair tutorials to your audience.

View this niche market with open eyes. As the need for natural hair care products and awareness rises within the African-American community there is ripe opportunity to jump in and create a name for yourself by creating content that stands outside the box.  Brands are watching but be choosy. The wrong spin can go the wrong way if you are looking at this market for just money-making potential.

You can check out Mary Pryor, the Urban Socialista on Twitter.

Source: Shutterstock

A recent study published in the Administrative Science Quarterly revealed that a male boss is likely to pay his staff better wages following the birth of his first daughter. The study, which analyzed the impact that fatherhood has on style of management was co-authored by David Gadis Gross, one of the associate professors at Columbia School of Business. More magazine recently caught up with Gross to discuss his findings, check out some what he revealed during the Q&A.

On what led him to participate in the study:

“I think individual managers can make a lot of difference; personalities matter. But we don’t have a lot of systematic evidence of why certain managers manage in certain ways. This study is an initial attempt to start filling in that big gap. I have two children myself, and I certainly think that has had an influence on me. When you’re a parent, whether a father or a mother, it affects you, and I think it affects you whether you have boys or girls.”

On what the study revealed about a male supervisor after he has his first child:

“For the first child of either gender, women employees’ wages actually increase, and for the first daughter, wages of both employees—men and women—increase.”

On finding that fathers tend to become more generous after having a daughter:

“Fathers don’t seem to play with daughters the same way [they do with sons]. They seem to be more nurturing, they seem to be more focused on developing social skills and less on achievement. By having a daughter, especially his first daughter, a male CEO, to some degree, [may go] through some process of socialization that could make him more generous toward his employees.”

AP Photo/Dave Allocca, StarPix

This Black History Month, we celebrate some of pop culture’s most influential movers and shakers who have changed the landscape of the world of entertainment. From the first African-American billionaire to the one of the hardest working men in radio, African-Americans have pioneered various media outlets, some even simultaneously.

Here are only a few of pop culture’s African-American innovators in the areas of music, television and film. We threw in a bonus, above: Michael Jackson. Besides his singing career both with the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist, and his investments across the music industry (including The Beatles portfolio), he invented the moonwalk, a move that continues to mystify and inspire dancers good and bad around the world. Check out this slideshow for more on the late, great MJ.

AP Photo/Julie Jacobson

If you’re not into NFL football, Super Bowl parties or even Beyonce for that matter, Sunday’s big game might not be a highlight for you, but the multi-million dollar commercial advertisements might be!

You might have already seen a few ads here or there gearing up for the Super Bowl between the Baltimore Ravens and San Fransisco 49ers and the record-breaking audience it will receive, including Beyonce’s Pepsi ad for her sponsored halftime show, but there are many more to come. From big household names like Toyota to smaller, but well-established products like Mio drinks, we are anticipating some of the biggest Super Bowl commercials ready to premiere this coming Sunday evening. Are you?

From the Pinterest homepage

Visually-focused social network Pinterest has already been making some changes in 2013. The “virtual pinboard” introduced business pages in November 2012 and has been working to make the site more about discovery and usability.

In addition to the introduction of a “news” section to help users discover other users and boards they want to follow, Pinterest also announced in a blog post that it is testing an overall new look for the site with improved navigations and larger images. A small group of users will have access to the new site before it goes out to all users.

This is a way to encourage users to spend more time browsing on the site, building the engagement necessary to attract brands. This shows maturity for Pinterest, which had reached 28 million users as of December 2012, according to comScore. But as more retailers and brands join the site, especially with the new business pages and tools, Pinterest needs to get these 28 million users to engage even more with the site.

Additionally, analytics platforms especially for Pinterest have surfaced in recent months, and are also maturing. Pinfluencer and Curalate, two of the better-known Pinterest analytics companies, both now have image recognition software on their platforms, helping with attribution on the site. This is another sign of the evolution of Pinterest from a time-wasting image site to something that provides real value for both brands and users.

As for those users, black women are a rising portion of the Pinterest-using population. Back in the summer, The Daily Dot published tips for maximizing your presence on the social network. “Quotes and pics are M-O-N-E-Y on Pinterest. Use sites likes PinWords.com to allow you to push out a high impact message with ease and you’ll be repinned like crazy,” said social media strategist Mike Street.

After Pinterest is able to build the tools that businesses want, and keep users engaged with the site, then the next step is monetization. Whether that comes in the form of advertising or a connection to ecommerce remains to be seen. But for now, Pinterest continues to be a top social site to watch.

Shutterstock

I’m so excited to launch the newest business column on Madame Noire: “Work It!” Every month we’ll dive into emerging trends, the future of work, and the innovative ways businesswomen are updating how they do business. The nature of work is changing at a rapid pace. Follow “Work It” to get a head start on what the future holds and shake up business as usual to take on this new era.

To establish the “Work It” circle of trust, I’m giving up one my most guarded, secret business weapons: JWTIntelligence. The think tank of one the world’s best-known marketing communications brands, JWTIntelligence’s gift for predicting trends would make Dionne’s psychic friends gag with envy. JWT has released 100 things to watch in 2013. We’re counting down the top ten trends you should be thinking about.

Derrick Salters/WENN.com

Some of the best and brightest in entertainment, business and service donned their sharpest clothes Saturday night and attended the 2013 BET Honors.

The awards show was once again hosted by actress Gabrielle Union, who has held that role since the first awards show in 2008. BET President of Music Programming and Specials, Stephen Hill tweeted after the show that Union was “funny, smart, sarcastic, caustic and real surprising.” If you’ve ever seen the show, it comes as no surprise that she’s any one of those things and is a perfect choice for host.

This year’s honorees include: pastor TD Jakes, singer Chaka Khan, entrepreneur Clarence Avant, basketball player Lisa Leslie, and actress Halle Berry. There were performances and appearances by Erykah Badu, Kem, Brandy, Mint Condition, Alicia Keys, Ledisi, Wayne Brady and a host of others. If some of the floating pictures are any indication, it was an awesome night.

Union spoke of the importance of the BET Honors after last year’s show saying, “A lot of times we wait around to get validation from pretty much everyone else.  We feel like we haven’t gotten anything accomplished if ‘others’ don’t say ‘good job.’ It means a lot more when your own says ‘good job.’ That’s what BET does with theBET Honors. It pulls the best and brightest of our family together and tells them ‘good job and keep up the good work’.”

The show is held at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. Proceeds from BET Honors 2013 will benefit Life Pieces to Masterpieces, an organization that provides opportunities for African-American young men in Washington, D.C. by developing and unlocking their potential, and empowering them to transform their lives and communities.

The 2013 BET Honors will air on Monday, February 11th at 9pm.

Judy Eddy/WENN.com

Because it’s not enough that their marriage has been featured on reality television in some capacity for almost as long as they’ve been married, Toya and Memphitz are on their way back to a small screen near you.

That’s right, TMZ is reporting that Toya and her husband, Mickey (aka “Memphitz”) are in the process of filming a reality show pilot. According to sources, the working title is Mickey and Toya: The Wright Way and it’ll feature the couple attempting to start a new business while trying to keep their marriage together.

It appears Toya’s full-time job is now reality star. Many people already knew Toya as the ex-wife of rap star Lil Wayne (they also chare a child together, 14 year old Reginae). That title helped land her first reality show on BET, Tiny and Toya, in which she co-starred with rapper T.I.’s wife, Tameka “Tiny” Cottle.  While the show was a success, it only last one season (allegedly due to Tiny’s husband’s “concerns”). Luckily for her, Toya’s reality star “power” was revealed and she was able to land her own show, Toya: A Family Affair, which also aired on BET and featured the ups and downs she went through with a family full of problems, raising her daughter, and eventually being married to Memphitz.

Toya and Mickey were married in 2011 and while they seem to be a nice couple, they’ve had a little “cloud” over their relationship for the past few months based on Mickey’s alleged past “issues.” In 2012, singer K. Michelle starred in VH1′s Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta and she alleged that Mickey was physically and verbally abusive during their business and personal relationship. Mickey denied all the allegations and Toya stood by her man.

Sources say the show is being shopped to BET, MTV, Oxygen and FUSE but if history is any indication, we know where it’ll land.

Will you be watching?

Happy New Year and welcome to the first Behind The Click of 2013! I’m happy to bring you a profile on someone who I’ve just discovered…

Though CEO Larry Ellison usually gets most of the media props as Oracle’s head honcho, Jennifer Sherman should definitely be on your tech radar as well.  She is proving that, yes, Virginia, there are women of color at such giants as Oracle and doing great things in the process.  Sherman is senior director of applications strategy at the company. We’ll get into more about what all that entails in just a bit.  But her international background is just as, if not more, compelling.

Current Occupation: Senior Director, Applications Strategy, Oracle Corporation

Favorite website: I’m remodeling my bathroom right now so Pinterest is my new best friend.

Favorite read: Fiction – Song of Solomon; Nonfiction – The Soul of a New Machine

Recent read: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

2013′s ultimate goal: I want to make this year as fabulous as possible. That probably means ordering champagne on Tuesdays, smiling at strangers, accepting compliments wholeheartedly, and telling people how much I value them.

We can choose to be audacious enough to take responsibility for the entire human family.  We can choose to make our love for the world what our lives are really about. Each of us has the opportunity, the privilege, to make a difference in creating a world that works for all of us.  It will require courage, audacity and heart.  It is much more radical than a revolution – it is the beginning of a transformation in the quality of life on our planet.  What we create together is a relationship in which our work can show up as making a difference in people’s lives. I welcome the unprecedented opportunity for us to work globally on that which concerns us all as human beings.

If not you, who?
If not now, when?
If not here, where?

-Werner Erhard

Madame Noire:  I love how you have lived in many different places.  Your background growing up seems fascinating.  How did you end up being raised in India, West Africa, and the Middle East?